The Rose Knows – March 2018
“Erin go Bragh” in the Irish language means Ireland “until the end of time” or Ireland “forever.” On March 17 each year, Irish heritage and culture is celebrated in Ireland and, to a greater extent, by Irish descendants in the United States. On that day, Irish lovers don the traditional Kelly green so as to be invisible to the leprechauns, who pinch anyone not wearing the vivid emerald color that blankets the island’s landscape. Every year U.S. cities celebrate the Irish culture and St. Patrick, the patron saint of Ireland. In the National Museum of Ireland in Dublin is a bell that is one of the relics of St. Patrick. This bell was forged in iron and coated in bronze. Perhaps, the strength and endurance of this iconic treasure is symbolic of the perseverance of Ireland’s most beloved Saint. Happy St. Patrick’s Day!
The Apostle of Ireland
St. Patrick himself was more interested in converting the Irish people to Christianity than parades. The celebration on March 17 is believed to be the day of his death around 461 AD. The son of a Christian deacon and grandson of a priest, Patrick was born in England. He was captured by Irish pirates when he was sixteen and taken to Ireland as a slave. He worked as a shepherd during his Irish captivity. After six years, he escaped and fled to a port 200 miles away. He persuaded a captain to take him to England. Patrick landed in England after three days and walked a grueling twenty-eight days in the wilderness almost starving to death before he reached home. While emersing himself in the study of Christian theology in England, he heard the voice of the Irish people crying out to him to “come and walk among us.”
St. Patrick returned to Ireland as a Christian missionary. Tradition has it that he was not welcomed by the locals upon landing and fled farther north. The first sanctuary dedicated by St. Patrick was at Saul. Patrick’s work was difficult. He was called a foreigner, was beaten, robbed, and put in chains for sixty days. In his “The Confessio,” Patrick does not dwell on his mistreatment but says of the Irish people, “…they have become the people of the Lord and are called children of God.” The legend of St. Patrick probably obscures the actual facts. St. Patrick is credited for teaching the Irish the doctrine of the Holy Trinity by comparing the parts of the shamrock to God the Father, the Son, and the Holy Spirit. Today, the shamrock remains the symbol of St. Patrick’s Day. The absence of snakes in Ireland gave rise to the legend that all snakes had been banished by St. Patrick. Supposedly, he chased them into the sea after they attacked him. The National Museum of Ireland asserts that there is no fossil evidence that there were ever snakes in Ireland. Another less know legend is Aspatria (ash of Patrick). It seems Patrick thrust his ash walking stick into the ground in evangelical zeal, and it stuck and grew into a living tree.
A Spring in Our Step
Here at Tudor Croft, we celebrate our residents and welcome our newcomers with the evangelical zeal and love bestowed by the revered St. Patrick. March will host the first home breaking ground in Phase III. A beautiful Windsor A Model home will be perched in perfectly for our view. And the owners at 31 Tudor Way and 64 Tudor Way hope to have the luck of the Irish and move into their homes soon as constructions are complete and closings are finalized. In the National Museum of Ireland in Dublin is a bell that is one of the relics of St. Patrick. This bell was forged in iron and coated in bronze. Perhaps, the strength and endurance of this iconic treasure is symbolic of the perseverance of Ireland’s most beloved Saint. Happy St. Patrick’s Day!
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